Orwell wrote about a society ruled by fear and repression; Huxley wrote about one benumbed by entertainment and trivia. In one, books are banned; in the other, banning is not needed because nobody bothers to read anyway.
Both societies lead, in their own way, to the death of the soul. And though there are plenty of instances of repression and intimidation in contemporary western society, especially in the form of politically correct expectations, it is through the media’s trivialization of our daily lives that our civilization is most imperiled. In our choices of popular music, TV, movies, and cultural obsessions, we are becoming, nearly literally, the very zombies that are currently so fascinating to our young, and not-so-young…
Oh, my. Jack Niewold's columns are as sharp, provocative, and relevant as always. Don't miss out -- read the rest of "Who Was Right, Orwell or Huxley?" You'll be thinking about it for days. And, if you'd like, you can even talk about the article with a couple of like-minded souls. Pat Osborne and I are going to make it the featured part of this Thursday morning's coffee confab at Westroad's Panera's.
